216 LIVE-STOCK JUDGING 



The half-and-half principle is fundamental, and when- 

 ever it is deviated from, the dual purpose is defeated. 

 The ideal dual-purpose cow is one which will produce 

 milk of such quantity and quality as to return a profit 

 over and above her cost of keep, and at the same time 

 possess a sufficiently beefy form to insure her male calves 

 feeding satisfactorily into acceptable butcher cattle, while 

 she herself and her daughters will yield a profitable 

 carcass when their usefulness in the dairy is over. 



Another difficulty in the way of dual-purpose attain- 

 ment on the part of the breeder is the fact that the prop- 

 osition is self-limiting. Many of the best dual-purpose 

 cows are bought up by dairymen who follow the practice 

 of milking a cow only through one milking period, then 

 turning her to beef and the butcher. Thus the breeding- 

 value of the best cows is lost, and what calves there are 

 produced are likely to have second-rate cows for their dams. 



234. The dual-purpose type. The half-and-half idea 

 also prevails in the make-up of the dual-purpose cow 

 (Fig. 106) . She has considerable scale, more than is com- 

 mon in dairy cows, her form is less beefy than is typical 

 of the steer, but more beefy than the typical dairy cow, 

 while she is less milky in form than the representative 

 dairy cow, but more milky than the fat steer. Her udder 

 will probably be as large as that of a dairy cow, but inferior 

 to it in both form and texture. Heifer calves should 

 develop into the likeness of their dams, and the bull calves 

 follow the same general type, but, being males, they will 

 incline more naturally to beefiness. In practice it seems 

 to be less difficult to get a cow that will give 10,000 

 pounds of milk annually and still retain her beef form, 

 and make a profitable and acceptable carcass, than to 

 secure from her a male calf that will make a steer al- 

 together satisfactory to either feeder or butcher. 



